Four vie for District 4 seat in SAISD

Adela Segovia is an administra- tor at Human Services Center, helping adults with special needs.

Art Valdez was endorsed by the San Antonio Alliance for Teachers and Support Personnel.

Fernando Velazquez, a community activist, says he is a formidable opponent.

John â€œRockyâ€ Graciano and this is his mug for the story DISTRICT 4 RACE in the San Antonio Independent School District.

Three challengers want to unseat San Antonio Independent School District trustee Adela Segovia, who's seeking a second term on the board of the city's third-largest school district.

It's nothing new for District 4, which has historically attracted large numbers of candidates, said Segovia, 47. In 2009 there were six, and she won the seat then with a little more than 25 percent of the vote.

“Everybody and anybody can run,” she said. “Whether they do it personally or for personal agendas, that's their thing. I'm not.”

Longtime community activist Fernando Velazquez styles himself as Segovia's most formidable opponent but is competing with two other challengers he said he thought would be supporting him. Velazquez, 32, said he was “a little shocked” to find Arthur V. Valdez, 65, and John “Rocky” Graciano, 51, had joined the race.

Velazquez said he led the charge to save a mural created by Valdez's son, renowned artist Vincent Valdez, from being removed from Burbank High School a few years ago. A mural on the outside of the school was painted over but one in the cafeteria still remains.

“I'm not against the democratic process, but it is my race to lose because I've worked the hardest in that area,” Velazquez said, adding that he thinks others influenced the men to run and the divided opposition gives Segovia an advantage.

“I'm not running because I have a grudge or because anyone told me to run,” Valdez responded. “This is what I can do for these kids.”

He said he wants to make sure academic rigor is maintained in SAISD schools and that the district offers technical and vocational options. The technical education he received at Burbank decades ago paved the way for his own career as an aircraft engineer at Comlux Aviation, he noted.

Asked about the incumbent, Valdez said Segovia had done a good job as trustee but said later he hasn't been to a school board meeting and doesn't know how Segovia's decisions impact the district. He said it shouldn't matter to voters what he thinks of the other candidates.

“My No. 1 concern for the district is for the dropout rate,” he said.

The San Antonio Alliance for Teachers and Support Personnel endorsed Valdez in late February. Alliance President Shelley Potter said he “came across as someone who is very trusted and trustworthy and someone that seemed to have a very strong value system.”

She said the group did not endorse Segovia in the last election.

Segovia said her accomplishments as trustee included projects she had steered money toward, including $1.5 million worth of improvements to Burbank during her first year on the board and a new kitchen for Hillcrest Elementary School.

An advocate for special needs students, Segovia said SAISD has increased the number of social workers dedicated to special education under her watch. District officials said that number had grown by two since 2009.Segovia is an administrator at a nonprofit agency called Human Services Center that she said helps adults with mental health or disability issues or other special needs. She noted she has a bachelor's degree in social work and said Velazquez lied when he called himself a social worker on his candidate application.

Velazquez confirmed he is not a licensed social worker and said he currently works as a resident services coordinator for a senior living community through the nonprofit Inter-Faith Texas.Some view him as a “loose cannon,” he said, but his work as a grass-roots organizer has been about inclusivity and public dialogue, values he'd carry to the board.

Velazquez said he helped launch an effort to save Burbank from closure in 2009 when it was one of several schools being considered for consolidation.

He has been a staunch critic of Segovia — challenging everything from her attendance record at subcommittee meetings to her handling of SAISD bond program decisions and her ties to Henry Muñoz, a partner in the firm that manages those projects.

Segovia called the accusations “trash” and said her record at board subcommittees was solid and that her working relationship with Muñoz is being misconstrued.

Velazquez said his focus is squarely on the children in SAISD. Nodding to his own checkered past as a troubled teenager and young adult — which includes a 2002 driving while intoxicated charge — he said he would promote mentoring programs for at-risk youth and explore how community partnerships could connect kids with meaningful job skills and decrease the number of dropouts.

“I'd like to make great decisions for my district, but I'd like to make the district as a whole great,” Velazquez said. “You need to look at the big picture.”

Graciano, 51, said by email that he has been very disappointed with Segovia's leadership.

“There seems to be no plan of action to improve the district,” he said. “If there is plan, it seems to be a secret.”

Graciano said he'll focus on decreasing the district's dropout and teen pregnancy rate. His email offered little detail about how he'd accomplish those goals but said his experience will help him adapt to issues and he promised transparency.

He said he works in customer service at West Telemarketing and said the nickname “Rocky” comes from his dad, a boxing fan. But Graciano said he has another nickname: “I'm also called 'the microwave' because I get things done in a hurry, and that's part of managing time.” Graciano said he was surprised to hear that Velazquez had expected his support, saying he doesn't know Velazquez personally but knew his mother.

Candidates are running for four year terms and early voting begins April 29. Election day is May 11.